The Challenge ends on July 15th. And for every $1000 raised on our MCMF Challenge page on CrowdRise, my husband, Eric, and I will donate $200 to the Be the Match Foundation through our "Gift the Gift of Life" project. We've already donated $200 to Be the Match for the first $1000 reached, so let's keep this going!

Only $570 to go until we reach $2000... who's going to help us get there? :D

Thank you so much for your incredible support! Let's help adolescents and young adults kick some EBV and EBV-associated diseases' butt.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Exciting news: We're over the $1200 mark on our MCMF Challenge page! A huge THANK YOU to our donors for helping us reach that important milestone... You're all Amazing.

And for every $1000 raised on our MCMF Challenge page, Eric and I promised we would donate $200 to the Be the Match Foundation through our "Give the Gift of Life" project on CrowdRise... check out our donation here. Thanks again to everyone for helping us make a difference.

Let's keep this going... Only $794 until we reach $2000! We can do this. :)

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The Matt Cwiertny Memorial Foundation'sAnnual Bowl-A-Rama Fundraiser is going to be held on Saturday October 13th at Fountain Bowl in Fountain Valley, CA, from 5:30pm - 8:30pm... so mark your calendars.

Check out the flier for more details and please feel free to tell all of your friends and neighbors about this fun event... the more, the merrier!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

As shown in the sidebar, we've almost hit $200 in our MCMF Challenge, only $41 to go! Can we reach that mark by tonight?

Also, very important to remember: My husband, Eric, and I will donate $200 to the Be the Match Foundation for every $1000 we raise on our MCMF Challenge page! Thank you so much for all of your amazing support. Let's make a difference.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

So, here's the deal: Eric and I started a new campaign to help the Matt Cwiertny Memorial Foundation raise at least $50K for a research grant. This campaign runs from May 15th - July 15th and the goal is $20,000.

For every $1,000 raised for the MCMF Challenge 2012: May-July, Eric and I will donate $200 to the Be the Match Foundation through our "Give the Gift of Life" project page.
Be the Match is an AMAZING charity that helps saves lives by adding
donors to the marrow registry, by offering relief to patients who are
struggling with thousands in uninsured costs, and by investing in "research
discoveries".

$1,000 raised for MCMF = $200 will be donated to Be the Match Foundation $5,000 raised for MCMF = $1,000 will be donated to Be the Match Foundation $10,000 raised for MCMF = $2,000 will be donated to Be the Match Foundation $15,000 raised for MCMF = $3,000 will be donated to Be the Match Foundation $20,000 raised for MCMF = $4,000 will be donated to Be the Match Foundation Sound good? Then let's raise some funds and help save lives!

Who is Matt and why this matters:Matt
was a 22-year-old junior art director for Marshall Advertising, who
loved the L.A. Galaxy soccer, A.S. Roma, the Flight of the Conchords,
The Dandy Warhols, Jack’s Mannequin, The 88, and Will Ferrell movies,
when he got a really bad case of mono. We thought he'd recovered until
six months later when Matt started getting extraordinarily high fevers,
his blood pressure dropped, and his blood counts cratered. His doctors
were confounded, especially when they concluded it was not mono. It was
only after he went into respiratory failure that his doctors at USC
learned he suffered from EBV-induced Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis
(EBV-HLH), a blood disorder affecting only 1 of every 1,000,000 persons
(after a bone marrow biopsy, the doctors decided he'd had mono earlier).
While EBV-HLH is not cancer, it acts and is treated like a cancer. The
disorder destroys healthy blood cells, and is treated with chemotherapy,
and a bone marrow transplant, if necessary. EBV-HLH often induces
lymphoma, which it did in Matt. One month after his EBV-HLH diagnosis,
Matt learned he was also battling NK T-Cell lymphoma, one of the most
aggressive and least researched blood cancers there is.

In
December 2008, Matt received his bone marrow transplant. While it
temporarily put him in remission, his lymphoma returned in February
2009, and in June 2009, Matt learned it had returned in the form of an
inoperable brain tumor. After chemo failed to put him in remission, Matt
began radiation treatment. Before finishing it, he was readmitted to
the City of Hope in late September 2009. At that time, Matt was in a
weakened state, with his EBV levels extraordinarily high that it was
debilitating to his liver and kidneys. Unfortunately, the doctors were
unable to administer any treatment that could reverse the affects of the
EBV and its impact on Matt’s vital organs… And at midnight on October
3, 2009, he passed away with his family surrounding him.Please
help us fund medical research for EBV and EBV-associated diseases,
which include blood cancers. We need to raise at least $50,000 for a
research grant and we're not quite there yet. We definitely can't reach
this goal without everyone's help, so let's do this... for Matt and for
other families. Thank you so much!

Monday, January 2, 2012

Thank
you very much to everyone for the amazing support of The Matt Cwiertny Memorial Foundation in
2011. We couldn't continue the fight against EBV and EBV-Associated
Diseases in Matt's name without your help, so Thank You!! You're
making a difference and helping us save lives. You're all incredible people.

On that note, we still have our MCMF Holiday Challenge on CrowdRise running until January 11th. Right now, we're only $867 from the $3K mark! Who will help us reach that milestone? Let's start off our 2012 research grant with a BANG and really push these first couple weeks of the new year. Let's help find a CURE. Let's help other families.

About Me

Wanna Become a Superhero?

I'm on a mission to wipe out EBV and EBV-associated diseases, which include blood cancers. My brother-in-law, Matt Cwiertny, passed away on October 3, 2009 at the age of 24--way too young-- from an EBV-induced NK T-cell Lymphoma. My family and I want to make sure other families and patients do not have to endure the nightmare that is battling a blood disease and blood cancer... and we can do that by raising funds and helping to find a CURE.
So that's the story. Help us raise funds for EBV and EBV-associated diseases by going to THE MATT CWIERTNY MEMORIAL website or to our Charity page on Crowdrise. Thank you so much for your support!